Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This site is quite funny. A lot of these "reviews" are just plain awful! (Mine could be too, depending on who you are...) The "reviews" on YouTube are even funnier, but entertaining.
I don't claim to be a recording engineer or other professional. I like music a lot and have owned a variety of different systems over the years.
The main reason I got into headphones: LOUSY LISTENING ROOM. I figure most people have one too and don't realize it. I have spent countless hours moving speakers around, trying different formulas and playing with a few acoustic treatments. No sonic bliss for me. A lousy room is a lousy room unless you want to spend muchos bucks and a lot of time. I'm getting too lazy. Enter headphones.
I just got the HD650's. I have put about 30 hrs. or so on them. I'm running them with the Benchmark DAC1 USB.
I also own the Beyerdynamic DT-880 (2003 Version)
The main reason I bought the HD650's : I have found the DT-880 too "bright" and lacking bass. They sound good with a lot of material but they can get on your nerves after a few hours. Add the fact that most cd's are "bright" and you have sonic irritation.
So, my simple observation after just 30 hrs. using varoius material is: The HD650's have more bass than the DT-880's. They also have a fuller midrange and are less fatiguing. These are exactly the sonic characters I was hoping for. I will have to do a follow - up later with more hours on the 'phones.
So that's it. I'm not going to say they are the best, or blow away this or that. Try them for yourself and YOU decide. Get to work!

Price Paid:  $319.00 from J&R.com

Summary:
This head phone suck compare to my shure scl5($250.in ebay). It look like a cheap head phone. The scl5 is a lot better than hd650 in any frequence. The price is too high for such headphone like this. It should only cost $100.00 at the most. I use my zhaolu d2.5c dac with a upgrade headphone to test them both. The hd650's bass is suck. It sound like only have one kind of bass. The mid and the high is even worst than the bass. I returned it in 2days. I want to give it 0 star but the lease star I can give is 1 so I give it 1 star.

Strengths:
none

Weaknesses:
every thing.

Similar Products Used:
shure scl5

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Price Paid:  $325.00 from bhphoto.com

Summary:
The Sennheiser HD650 are a great headphones in their price range (300-700$us).
Whereas a Grado HF-1 or RS-1 will be of the same sonic quality, they have completely opposite sonic signatures.
The HD650 excel at presenting a very non fatiguing listening experience in which the high frequencies are nicely rolled off and never sibilant/bright. The bass is also nicely rolled off. The bass does not sound dry and has enough weight behind it to make instruments sound lifelike and not artificial (which I find is one of the hardest things for a headphone to accomplish). Extreme low frequency and high frequency detail is lost as a result of these being rolled off, but that is what gives it the easy to listen to quality.

Soundstage presentation on the HD650 is very impressive! It is able to present the subtle room acoustics with ease.

On top of this, I find the HD650 to be an extremely comfortable headphone. The grip never gives me pain, but is enough to keep these headphones securely in place. The Velour ear pads are very soft. Since this headphone is open, it remains relatively cool on the head. The cable is detachable which is a nice feature. Custom cables are plentiful for this headphone, so there is room to tweak the sound even further.

These have been my main headphones for over a year now, and I no longer have the urge to purchase others. I use the stock cable. These are sourced by a MHDT labs Havana NOS Tube DAC and amped by a HeadAmp GS-1 headphone amplifier.
This combination results in an extremely musical setup with not even a hint of listening fatigue.

If you are looking at headphones around this price range, you owe it to yourself to give the HD650 a try.

Strengths:
Very comfortable and remains cool
Non-Fatiguing sound
Lush Mids
Lifelike Bass
Great Price
Detachable Cable (easy to upgrade)

Weaknesses:
At this price these headphones have no major weaknesses.
In absolute terms though, these headphones are lacking the last bit of detail that your 1000$+ headphones can deliver

Similar Products Used:
Grado HF-1
Grado RS-1
Sennheiser HD580
Sennheiser HD25-1
Beyerdynamic DT770pro
AKG K701
AKG K340

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Price Paid:  $400.00 from ROIAUDIO Finland

Summary:
If you a) have read the other reviews on this site or b) have ears and have auditioned the 650s, you already know that these are probably the best headphones in the world.

So what do I have to add? How about an upgrade recommendation? Don't get me wrong: I used these headphones for a year without even thinking about upgrades. Didn't know there were any and didn't feel like I needed 'em either.

Then I read about the Cardass cable and since I am nowadays doing almost all my serious listening through my Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 and Sennheiser 650 combo (attached to a Densen 400 XS cd-player connected with a Goertz Triode silver cable), I thought, why not see where this goes.

Well, I wound up buying the Zu Cables Mobius. For 300 euros. If you have never heard of this company before (like I hadn't), here is their site: www.zucable.com. The effect is nothing short of spectacular! I got a 5m cable (long, I know...) and burned it in attaching it to my tuner and letting it play in the background for a couple of days. Then on to the listening!

As is so often the case with fine Hifi, the right cableing let's you know just how good a product actually is. Same thing with the Sennheisers. What I got was an actual soundstage - something I thought was impossible even in the finest headphones, since everything kinda happens "in your head". But here it is now. Clearly structured and amazingly wide, instruments mapped out on, well, a stage.

How is this possible in headphones? I think, the cable mainly increased detail and control. When you have that, the instruments behind the music become visible. Add the natural musicality of the 650s and you have a musical experience which is amazingly like listening to an excellent amp-speaker combo.

There are other upgrade cables around. I'm sure, many of them are good. The Cardass, though, is clearly at the lower end of things. So if you find yu have another 3-400 to spend and you listen seriously with your headphones, give the Zu a shot. It's bring out the best in your Senns!

Strengths:
Headpphones: Musicality!
Cable discussed: Detail and control.

Weaknesses:
Well, expensive for headphones and a cable - but hten, so much cheaper than and amp and speakers!

Similar Products Used:
Sennheiser 600, AKG 500 and 501. Cardass upgrade cable.

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Price Paid:  $299.00 from J&R music

Summary:
Let me start by saying that these headphones are not something you plug into an ipod or any other jack that doesn't have some kind of amplfication.Once you purchuse these headphones your off into spending more money in order to make these headphones worthwhile.I've been waiting for the price of these headphones to come down because I know that there are other headphones waiting in the wing.Once I recieved them I pluged them into my mini system to burn them in.With that going on I now had to create a system which sent me on the hunt for a good CDP with a high quality DAC and of course a good headphone amplifier to go with it.Once that was accomplished I needed about 15' of cable so I got the Cardas cable to go with the headphones.Once everything was burned in I was now able to judge these headphones.What I found was that these headphones shine into what ever music I'm listening to at the time especially when playing accoustic music as it is truely an extraordinary experince.I can't find fault with anything these headphones have to offer.All in all this is a cheap short cut to get the very best in high quality music in this day and age.For about $1400 I have a system which in my opinion I can't put a price tag on.All there is to do now is decided what kind of CD I want to listen to and I'm off into another world.A great escape from the everyday insanity of the outside world.Don't believe me try searching for an upgraded power cord and you'll see what I mean.

Strengths:
Music reproduction

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
CA azur 640c v1.Creek 21se headphyone amp.AQ king cobra RCA.AQ nrg-2 power cord.

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